Scooby-Doo...Where Are You! - Gold Key - Issue 10 - Comic

Scooby-Doo...Where Are You! - Gold Key - Issue 10

Released February 1972

Episode Premiere

A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts November 22, 1969

Stories

The Ghosts of Grimstone Castle

This story is an adaptation of the first season episode, A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts. The gang visits a tourist destination where they are terrorized by ghosts.

This issue tells the story of the episode and improves on it in a few ways. The improvements start with the explanation of Grimstone Castle (named Franken Castle in the episode). In the episode, it's explained that the castle was moved from Europe. In the comic, they explain that the castle was built from stones brought from Transylvania by an "eccentric" over a hundred years earlier. In the time that the castle has been there, it's developed a reputation for being infested with lycanthropes.

The comic puts them in the middle of a desert. An interesting combination, Saguaro cactuses and Dracula. The plot changes after they reach the castle. This plot is shortened by hastening pointless parts of the plot. In the episode, Daphne is trapped inside the castle as a result of the drawbridge closing. In the comic Fred, Velma and Daphne get trapped. Shaggy and Scooby decide to brave the moat with alligators to save the rest of the gang. No hesitation, no Scooby Snacks.

Their time in the castle plays out similarly but not the same. There's no extended scene of Velma trying to find her glasses. The gang all acts with intent, especially Shaggy. Shaggy turns the crank on the drawbridge to "secure an exit". Shaggy and Scooby try to barricade a door with bags of  Monster Rations Kibble.  I appreciate it when they do something other than run around. I like it when they execute plans because it gives the characters autonomy and that's an important trait for a detective or a team of detectives.

Shaggy acknowledges the skeleton in the torture chamber of the castle in the cartoon and the comic but in the comic he uses one of the bones as a weapon. He realizes the bone is plastic. This is one of the best clues presented in the comic that's not present in the episode. It's a clue that the castle was dressed up to look creepy and menacing.

They escape the castle in the comic before solving the mystery. It's the best change from the episode because it makes the villain better by making his motive more sensible. The castle was haunted strategically to scare them and drive them out.

The hidden treasure works better in the comic. We get Fred's heroics when the bad guy attacks them and he flips him over and traps him. Velma realizes the meaning of the message Daphne found in the dungeon. The message refers to a fake brick containing the lost jewels. The set up works, it makes sense why the jewels would still be there because the castle was never moved. The castle was built where it stood. Although this means, the guy that owned the castle was imprisoned in the dungeon in the United States.

It's silly cute seeing the gang wearing the jewels they got as prizes for finding the lost jewels. It's like something out of an episode of the Monkees.

Scooby's thought bubbles are out of character for him. The thoughts are too detailed and they don't always sound like Scooby. Example: "Whup? I think I hear a wee small voice!"

The Other Story

There's another story filling up the leftover pages but it's not Scooby and it feels like some thing they had laying around and thought, "Eh, no one will care."

Rogue's Gallery

Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, Fortune Teller, Suit of Armor